It paled in comparison to January’s premiere of “Flowers in the Attic” on Lifetime, but “Petals on the Wind” drew a sizable audience for the network Monday night.

According to Nielsen estimates, an average audience of about 3.4 million tuned in to see the pic, starring Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn and based on the second gothic novel of V.C. Andrews’ iconic series about the Dollanganger family.

In adults 18-49, it did a 1.2 rating (about 1.5 million viewers in the demo) — not too far behind the top broadcast series on the night (a 1.5 for the season premiere of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”).

In January, airing on a Saturday night, “Flowers in the Attic” drew a whopping 6.06 million viewers — the largest audience for a basic cable movie since late 2012 — and pulled a 1.9 rating in adults 18-49.

“Petals on the Wind” ranks as one of Lifetime’s most-watched original movies of the year. Across ad-supported cable, the network has the top four movie telecasts of 2014 with total viewers:
“Flowers in the Attic,” “Lizzie Borden Took an Ax,” “The Gabby Douglas Story” and “Petals on the Wind.”

Lifetime is currently in development on three additional V.C. Andrews books, including “If There Be Thorns” and “Seeds of Yesterday,” both from the Dollanganger series. There’s also the standalone novel “My Sweet Audrina.”

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